For Training Purposes
by Allotropism
Summary: Oneshot. Charlie has a favour to ask Hermione. Said favour involves a whole of... snogging. Nothing wrong with that right?


**Title:** For Training Purposes

**Pairing:** Hermione G. / Charlie W.

**Type:** Romance/Humor

**Notes:** Oneshot, AU, Post-Hogwarts

**Disclaimer:** Let's just say that if I were J.K. Rowling, you people wouldn't find this on a free site to read.

**Summary: **Charlie has a favour to ask Hermione. Said favour involves a whole of... snogging. Nothing wrong with that right?

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><p>"<em>A kiss is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop speech when words become superfluous."<em>

- Ingrid Bergman

Hermione knew she probably resembled a fish out of water with the way her face was currently set. Her mouth was unattractively hanging open and her eyes were doing a fantastic job of resembling wide saucers but she honestly couldn't find it in herself to care at the moment. She was still trying to process what the redhead in front of her was saying as she tried to utter something in response – anything at all.

"You want me to–"

"Be my practice snogging partner," Charlie finished for her, completely and utterly unabashed with his request. The dragon keeper was so calm and collected that Hermione was wondering if she had simply misheard him.

"Just a little bit of innocent kissing is all."

After hearing that, Hermione trashed the mental note she made to clean her ears later. She had definitely heard him correctly. Her eyebrows furrowed as she attempted to make sense of the situation at hand. The fact that Charlie was acting as though he had simply asked her to lend him a spare quill didn't help matters at all.

"But _why?_" She hated the way the interrogative word came out. Her voice utilized a pitch much too high to be considered normal. _'Though could anyone really blame me?'_ Hermione sarcastically thought to herself. After all, it wasn't everyday that a girl was requested by her ex-boyfriend's older brother for a practice snog.

"It's only for training purposes, of course," Charlie answered as he pushed the tray of food he had brought with him earlier closer to Hermione. He indicated with his hand for her to get something from the assortment of pastries innocently stacked in front of them both. Her eyes followed his outstretched hand before gluing themselves on a random blueberry muffin as she attempted to gather her thoughts sufficiently enough to form a coherent response.

_'Maybe I'm just dreaming. Or perhaps someone is impersonating Charlie through the use of the polyjuice potion,'_ Hermione pondered to herself as she tried to think of a logical enough scenario to explain Charlie's odd behavior. Still, despite her well-known intelligence, all the theories she managed to concoct regarding the dragon keeper's absurd request seemed just as unlikely as the next. After almost a solid five minutes of dead-end thinking, Hermione decided to break the silence lest she give Charlie the impression that the blueberry muffin she was still staring at had somehow managed to petrify her.

Deciding to voice out the question that she hoped would explain everything, Hermione tilted her head up and looked at Charlie square in the eye before asking, "So why exactly have you suddenly developed an interest in this type of... _training?_" She said the last word quite dubiously.

For the first time since he had requested his favour to Hermione, Charlie blushed. "Well, you see the last time I've been on a date was when I was still attending Hogwarts."

"But wasn't that ten years ago?" Hermione asked before she could stop herself.

"Yes," Charlie nodded in affirmation as the blush in his face intensified. Even the tips of his ears had gone pink. "Ten years ago," He repeated, frowning to himself a little.

"Right–" Hermione gave Charlie an apologetic grin. She didn't mean to embarrass Charlie by sounding so incredulous about it. She bit her bottom lip in embarrassment. It was a habit of hers that Charlie had mentioned he found rather endearing. "Sorry about that."

He raised a hand telling her that no harm was done before continuing,"Anyway, now you know the reason as to why I think I may be a little rusty at it."

"At kissing, you mean," Hermione verified.

He nodded.

"And I suppose this is where I come in?"

"Right," Charlie nodded again. "I need a reliable source," He pointed to Hermione. "To tell me," He pointed at himself. "If I still know how to snog for any potential dates."

"Are sure you've exhausted every other option you have out there?" Hermione asked at the same moment Charlie reached out for a scone. He grabbed the one threatening to fall off the small pyramid it was stacked into before taking a bite. He chewed thoroughly and swallowed everything in his mouth before answering her.

"You don't expect me to just go up to random witches out in the street and ask them to pucker up, do you?" Charlie asked the brunette directly in front of him with a raised eyebrow. "Besides, I don't really fancy doing this with a relative," He added as he made a face.

"But don't you have other female friends you could ask?"

"I do," He conceded, "But to be honest, you're the only one I'm comfortable enough to do this with," Charlie admitted, after which he flashed her a winning smile as if hoping that it would seal the deal and get her to agree to his proposal.

Just as Charlie took another bite from the scone he was eating, his mother's head poked into the room through the door directly behind the chair Hermione was occupying. Hermione turned in her seat to look at the Weasley matriarch and waited to see what she needed to say.

"Charlie, Hermione, I just have to run out for a little while to do a quick errand. I'll be back later to start on dinner."

"I'll help when you retu–"

"Nonsense, dear," Molly cut Hermione off with a smile. "You leave all the cooking to me. Go spend some time with Charlie," She indicated to her son with a tilt of her head.

Hermione had a sneaking suspicion that Molly was still hell-bent on formally turning her into a Weasley through marriage. Though the doting mother of seven seemed to lose steam when Hermione amiably broke up with her youngest son two years ago, Molly seemed to find renewed vigor in pairing the famous bookworm with Charlie once their friendship became the talk of the town.

The dragon keeper had surprised everyone a year ago by announcing that he was finally returning from Romania for good. Hermione had always believed that his desire to return had something to do with Fred's tragic demise a few years earlier during the Battle of Hogwarts. Whatever the reason, Charlie had jumped on the chance to be closer to his family when he caught wind of a new dragon reserve opening in England.

Truth be told, neither of them expected to forge such a close bond with each other. But with Harry and Ron frequently away for Auror training and Charlie not having much acquaintances left in England after almost a decade of absence, it was inevitable for the both of them to spend their free time with each other. In Hermione's eyes, Charlie had slowly but surely wormed his way into becoming one of her closest friends. She only wished the rest of the world would think the same and stop insisting them to be the epitome a budding couple.

Hermione figured that the misconception isn't at all helped by Charlie coming on to her all the time. Everyone seems to ignore the fact that he is simply messing around. The _Daily Prophet_ had even published quite a few articles detailing a possible secret romance between the both of them that started when the paparazzi overheard Charlie teasingly flirt with her at an ice cream parlor. Even her own friends weren't any better. They had never let an opportunity pass up without dropping not so subtle hints about how she should just get it on with muscular redhead.

Even at her childhood home, she wasn't safe. To Hermione's absolute horror during brunch a few months ago, her own mother had mentioned to Ginny how wonderful it would be if her daughter would just take the time to _"tame the handsome dragon keeper."_

Though Hermione would never care to admit it to anyone, there are times when it seems as if she does want something more to happen. A few months ago, the night after attending Percy and Audrey's wedding, she had dreamed of marrying Charlie. Thankfully in the end, Hermione made her peace with it by disregarding it as nothing more than her brain's way of telling her it was about time she got herself a boyfriend.

And despite what the numerous psychology books she had read the next day might say, it sure as hell was not a repressed desire.

Charlie Weasley is just a friend. Friend. Just a friend. Just her friend.

And no, contrary to what her friends might retort, she isn't in denial either.

Molly gave both Charlie and Hermione a final wave goodbye before she turned on the spot and disapparated.

As Hermione rounded back to face Charlie, she didn't expect to find his face hovering mere inches away from hers. Big bright blue orbs framed by thick lashes were peering at her with a mischievous shine.

"How about we start that training regime?" Charlie asked in a voice that could barely be considered a whisper. His soft, warm breath was dancing across her face and Hermione's nose could recognize a scent that seemed to be a cross between peppermint and aftershave.

"Ri–right now?" She could feel her face heating up from their close proximity.

He chuckled softly. "I was hoping, yeah."

"But–"

Charlie raised a finger to her lips to silence her as he said, "Mum's gone and my siblings won't arrive for at least another two hours so we should have ourselves plenty of privacy."

His face was so near her now that she could count every individual freckle that adorned his face if she wanted to. A slight downward tilt of her eyes made Hermione notice a light scattering of stubble on Charlie's chin. It strategically concealed a barely noticeable scar that ran down the length of his neck until it disappeared down the collar of his shirt. Hermione bit her lip roughly as she failed to intercept an image of where the scar led – which resulted in her thinking about a very well built bare-chested Charlie. She almost reached out to trace the scar before she caught herself and restrained her hand just in time. _'What in Merlin's name is wrong with me?'_ Hermione furiously berated herself, mortified at what she had almost done. She decided that having him this close to her definitely wasn't doing any favours to her sensibilities.

"So... shall we begin?"

Everything still felt all too surreal to Hermione. She couldn't really form coherent thoughts as Charlie's intoxicating breath continued to wash over her face as he talked. Add that to the fact that she was still trying to reign in her thoughts of a bare-chested Charlie that she didn't really notice herself nod in agreement.

"Excellent," Charlie grinned and with that, he proceeded to lean in to close the distance between them.

His lips felt feather light against hers. They had barely made full contact with her own and yet she felt her heartbeat already speeding up exponentially as if she had been participating in a race, a marathon even. He slowly but surely pressed closer to her after a few moments, his hands grabbing hold on the armrest from both of her sides, effectively trapping her in place. He tasted sweet, Hermione mused, before realizing it was most likely due to the scone he was eating earlier.

It felt like an eternity to Hermione but in reality, it was all over in a few seconds. Charlie broke the contact as Hermione's eyes snapped open – she didn't even notice closing them earlier.

"And that was the standard kiss," Charlie announced huskily. Though they were no longer kissing, there was barely an inch of space that separated their lips. Hermione's eyes widened in surprise as Charlie's lips made repeated contact with hers again and again in an almost teasing manner as he continued talking. "Always good to review the basics, wouldn't you agree?"

Another absent-minded nod was Hermione's answer. The man in front of her gave a boyish grin in return.

Charlie got up from the bended position he was in, stood up straight, and grabbed one of Hermione's arms. He pulled on the brunette's arm to get her to stand on her feet before leading her to the much more spacious sofa beside the armchair she initially occupied. He raised one of his calloused hands, the effect of working with dragons for years, and took hold of her chin. His fingers felt rough as he stroked her skin – but not in an unpleasant way. In reality, it just made Hermione even more aware of the man she was starting to realize she had growing feelings for.

_'Oh sweet Merlin on a stick, I really was in denial.'_

If she really did just view him as a friend and nothing more, she shouldn't have this feeling of anticipation that had her clamouring for more of his kisses. _'Must I really figure all this out now of all times?'_ She wanted to slap herself silly as she realized how many choruses of _"We told you so!"_ she would have to endure if anyone found out. _'They won't let me hear the end of it.'_

Out of habit, Hermione once again bit her bottom lip in embarrassment. Though she very much wanted to sit and think about this newfound discovery of hers, her brain managed to crash once more as Charlie slowly trailed a finger over her bottom lip.

"That habit of yours, the one where you bite your bottom lip... It just gave me a great idea," He murmured to her, his lips forming into a grin.

Hermione desperately tried to fight off the blush that she was half expecting to be forever imprinted on her face.

"Practice makes perfect," Charlie whispered softly to himself before leaning in once again.

Hermione's hands found themselves pressed up upon Charlie's rather impressive chest as the redhead's lips claimed her own once more. His lips were much more exploratory and mobile this time, actively moving around, feeling everything in reach. Hermione was reminding herself to breathe when Charlie suddenly started to suck on her bottom lip. Surprised, her hands unconsciously grabbed hold of his shirt, clutching at it as if holding on for dear life. He bit onto her lip gently as if marking his territory. Hermione let out a moan of approval.

"Definitely a great idea," Charlie whispered to himself before diving back in to nibble on her lip affectionately.

As Charlie continued his efforts, Hermione realized just how stationary she had been all this time. Reasoning to herself that Charlie was probably expecting her to kiss back at some point – after all, he could have snogged a pillow if he simply needed a passive partner – Hermione braced herself for what she was about to do. She tentatively matched her lips' movements with Charlie's so that she found herself actively kissing him back.

Charlie pulled away from her suddenly as he laid his forehead upon her own. Seemingly out of breath, he peered down at the hands still clutched to his front before properly looking at the witch he had been thoroughly snogging. He licked his lips before teasingly saying, "About bloody time."

The redhead chuckled to himself and Hermione felt his chest rumble from underneath her hands. Realizing that she was messing up his shirt, she started to untangle her hands from further wrinkling it when Charlie's large hands clamped over her own and halted their retreat.

"Not so fast, we're not done yet," Charlie grinned a feral smile, his eyes very much dilated.

Hermione watched as Charlie leaned in more aggressively this time around, one of his arms moving to encircle her waist to keep her steady before using the other to tilt her head to the side. He crashed his lips to hers for a searing kiss that sent Hermione's heart into another beating frenzy. She was vaguely wondering if he could feel the effect he had on her when she noticed that the heartbeat under her palms were mirroring hers perfectly. The rhythmic thumping of Charlie's heartbeat was going in the same intensity hers was.

One of Charlie's hands had managed to tangle itself in her hair as their making-out turned even more heated with each passing second. With one hand still encircling Hermione's waist and the other now clamping itself onto the back of her head, Charlie swiftly brought them down into a lying position with Hermione on top of him. Hermione parted her mouth in surprise from their sudden change in position and Charlie, sensing the opportunity, slipped his tongue into her mouth and gave the roof a long drawn-out lick.

Hermione shuddered in pleasure as Charlie's tongue continued to explore the confines of her mouth. His hands were also clawing at her body, touching, feeling, grasping everything it came across. It was as if he was memorizing every single part of her. Deciding to throw caution into the wind for once, Hermione dug her own hands into Charlie's shirt to feel his torso and was rewarded by his hiss of approval.

Charlie broke the contact between their lips to steal kisses and nibbles at her ear. Hermione's eyes rolled to the back of her head when Charlie bit her earlobe gently and proceeded to blow air to it. He whispered near her ear, his voice rough and low. "Thanks for all this. I'm learning _loads._"

Charlie suddenly flipped them over so that he was the one straddling her this time around. He dove into the crook of her neck and pressed kisses all over. A gasp escaped her lips as Charlie bit down on her neck. He used his tongue to lick and soothe the area.

"You've been spending too much time with dragons, Charlie." Hermione managed to say in between her frantic breathing.

His voice was muffled when he replied due to his preoccupation at his continued assault on her neck, "And why is that?"

Another gasp escaped Hermione's lips as she realized she would at least have two hickeys when all this was over. "You seem to have developed a fetish for biting,"

A rumble in Charlie's chest told Hermione he was again laughing but before Charlie could even begin to voice out his reply, the door behind the armchair opened.

"Does roast beef, cottage pie, and–"

A wide eyed Molly stopped in her tracks as she regarded her son and Hermione in a very compromising position on her living room couch. Blushing, she cleared her throat before continuing, "Right well, sorry for barging in like this. Please, do carry on," She waved them off before immediately turning around and heading for the door she had entered just moments ago. "Just remember, do not give me and Arthur grand-kids before marriage," She called over her shoulder before leaving the room and charming the door shut.

Hermione untangled herself from the mess of limbs that consisted of herself and Charlie.

"Oh, Merlin. How on earth will I ever look your mother in the face now?" Hermione groaned as she buried her face in her hands, horrified.

Charlie's booming laughter rang out beside her as he got up from his position in the couch.

"She's probably planning our immediate nuptials as we speak. I say, does a spring wedding sound like a good idea to you?"

Hermione playfully slapped Charlie's shoulder as the dragon keeper continued to laugh.

"Any idea how we're going to explain all this to her?"

Flashing her a grin, the redhead answered, "We could just take the easy way out and say that we're dating."

"Charlie, be serious," Hermione chastised. "Do you want her to get the wrong idea?"

"I am serious. Hermione, go out with me?"

Hermione had originally planned to tell Charlie to stop fooling around but whatever she was going to say died on her lips as she caught sight of his eyes. Though most of Charlie's face was composed to resemble an air of confidence, a grin was even plastered to his lips, the bright blue orbs he possessed told another story.

"Is the thought of dating me really that impossible?" Charlie asked lightly, almost jokingly, though Hermione sensed that his voice shook a little.

"What–"

"Look–" Charlie suddenly cut her off as a look of determination took over his face, all traces of the grin he had earlier gone. His lips were set in a straight line and his shoulders were tense. It was as if he were bracing himself for something big. "I'm going to confess something, okay? Just... hear me out first."

Hermione could feel the desperation in his voice. It was amazing how they had gone from making-out, to joking around regarding spring weddings, to... this.

"All those times I flirt with you... I'm... serious about wanting something between us." Charlie started, his cheeks turning the characteristic Weasley red. Out of all all the Weasley children, Charlie was the one that rarely blushed, having such a confident personality that many people could only wish to possess. This was the first time she's seen the dragon keeper look so vulnerable.

"It drove me crazy that you seemed to think I was only fooling around." Charlie admitted, his face now angled to face the floor in order to avoid looking at Hermione. "I was absolutely going barmy, desperate as to how to get you to notice me. I didn't know how else to best capture your attention so I thought maybe," He gestured with his hand as he attempted to find the right word, "Seducing you might do the trick."

When asked at a later time, Hermione could never really say why she did what she did at that moment. Perhaps it was because of the total absurdity of the whole situation, that Charlie had just admitted to trying to seduce her under the guise of kissing practice. Or perhaps it was due to the fact that the seducing did in fact work for it had unlocked and set free her own long denied feelings. There was also his own mother catching them in such a suggestive position. It might even be a combination of those three or something else entirely but whatever the reason, Hermione started laughing.

Face now burning like a ripe tomato, Charlie stood up. "Right– I think I'll go help mum with dinner," He mumbled, keeping his face down as if hoping a hole might appear out of nowhere to swallow him alive.

Before he could even take a step, Hermione pulled Charlie down to her and crashed her lips to his, hoping that her actions would convey the message she wanted to send.

_'Yes, you daft git. Your little plan of seduction worked.'_

"You know," Hermione said after they broke apart for air a few minutes later, "All those years of not dating really hasn't affected your kissing prowess. It's still in top shape."

Charlie looked sheepish as he scratched the back of his head. "Actually, while it's true that I haven't been on a date since my Hogwarts days, I haven't really been short on... practice, if you know what I mean. I've had numerous flings with other women when I was still at Romania but... you... you're making me want to make an honest man out of myself."

Hermione smiled as she planted a kiss on Charlie's lips. She made a mental note to call her mother first thing tomorrow.

After all, she deserves to know that her daughter had finally tamed the handsome dragon keeper.

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><p><strong>Author's Notes:<strong>

_*Stares at the computer screen in disbelief* _After 2039420592345 years, I've finally posted new material! _*Pats self on the back*_ To be honest, I had started this fic ages, no – _eons_ ago. It really sucked that I had little to no time this past month to just sit my arse down and type. I even had days wherein I had barely typed two or three sentences only to have something more important come up. But thankfully my schedule this weekend opened up wide enough to allow me to finish this.

Oh, and I hope I didn't make you hate Mrs. Weasley for her really bad timing in this fic. She really is one awesome kick-ass mother.

"NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!"

Self-explanatory, yeah?

Anyway, hopefully you all enjoyed reading this oneshot. As always, reviews are certainly most welcome! Reading your fantastic comments never fails to bring a smile to my face.

Till next time, everyone.

Cheers!


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